High blood sedimentation can be seen in certain physiological conditions: women during menstruation, pregnancy, elderly people, especially those over 60 years of age, mostly due to an increase in fibrinogen, resulting in an increase in blood sedimentation. In pathological conditions it can be seen in various inflammatory conditions (acute and chronic inflammation, such as tuberculosis, connective tissue disease, rheumatic fever, etc.). Tissue injury and necrosis, too, can be increased in the short term. It is more pronounced in malignant tumors, especially those with high malignancy and rapid growth. Increased blood sedimentation is seen in a variety of hyperglobulinemia, such as systemic lupus erythematosus, multiple myelopathy, macroglobulinemia, cirrhosis, and chronic nephritis. Increased hematocrit can also occur in anemia and hypercholesterolemia. Thus, the cause of increased hematocrit is complex and non-specific. What about high hematocrit? Hematocrit is the rate of erythrocyte sedimentation, which refers to the rate at which red blood cells fall per hour at rest. Under normal circumstances, there is no significant difference in the speed of hematocrit between normal people, except for the slower hematocrit in children and the slightly faster hematocrit in adult men and pregnant women. However, when suffering from certain diseases, the blood sedimentation can change significantly. Any increase in immunoglobulins, fibrinogen, cholesterol, triglycerides in the blood or certain diseases can cause changes in blood sedimentation. For example, tuberculosis, rheumatoid arthritis, malignant tumor, acute and chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, and various infections can increase the sedimentation rate. In addition, there are many other factors that affect the change of blood sedimentation, so when diagnosing a certain disease clinically, we cannot rely on only one indicator of elevated blood sedimentation, but need to combine the medical history and symptoms and other comprehensive physical examination to make an accurate diagnosis. Is high blood sedimentation a rheumatic disease? High blood sedimentation is one of the criteria for diagnosing rheumatic disease, but it is not the only one, and at the same time, high blood sedimentation is also related to a variety of diseases and cannot confirm the diagnosis of rheumatic disease. High blood sedimentation is related to many factors, such as menstruation, pregnancy, elderly people, especially those over 60 years of age, and increased blood sedimentation due to the increase of fibrinogen. In pathological conditions it can be seen in various inflammatory conditions.